Timelapse of Hong Kong's Skyline at Sunset0:23

Hong Kong’s spectacular skyline features the ninth tallest building in the world, the International Commerce Centre. Every evening at least 44 skyscrapers and buildings on the skyline light up to make a synchronized Symphony of Lights, one of the largest permanent light and sound festival in the world. This video captures this magical spectacle. Credit: YouTube/J Hawk Daily

February 21st 2016

3 years ago

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A snapshot of the Fishermans Bend project in Melbourne. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

YOU won’t hear much Cantonese on the streets and the buildings aren’t dotted with flashing neon, but there were claims this week that plans for new apartments in Waterloo — on Sydney’s southern fringe — could see the suburb rival Hong Kong for the sheer number of people living in close proximity to each other.

It’s just one corner of many in our cities which are predicted to experience explosive population growth. But experts have warned that “wild west” developers could lead to these sardine suburbs, where residents are packed in ever tighter, becoming little more than high-rise ghettos.

“Sydney and Hong Kong are completely different in terms of lifestyle and experience,” Rebekah Earp tells news.com.au.

The public relations executive is face-to-face with the reality of what it’s like to live cheek by jowl with your neighbours having left leafy inner city Paddington for a flat deep in the bustling heart of Hong Kong two years ago.

For the same rent as a two-bedroomed terrace in Sydney she now lives in a 45sqm apartment.

“With flats generally being small you don’t spend too much time at home, so you can feel a bit trapped when it rains and you have to stay in,” she says.

But when the sun’s out, one of the most dynamic cities in the world is her oyster. “There’s a definite energy to Hong Kong and its vibrant streets,” she says. “Everything is accessible and the MTR [underground] is cheap and gets you around quickly. In 20 minutes I can be hiking the peaks or at the beach and feeling very removed from the busy streets.”

But Ms Earp doesn’t miss the crowds when she’s back in her old stomping ground. “I always love being back in Sydney. I love the lifestyle, the space in the streets, the parks, the sea and I particularly miss the blue sky.”

Hong Kong has its fair share of skyscrapers.Source:News Limited

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Sydney’s average population density is a relatively relaxed 390 people per sq kilometre while Melbourne’s is more of a squeeze at 450 people.

But in some areas it’s a lot squishier. All but one of Australia’s 20 most densely populated suburbs are in Sydney with Pyrmont and Potts Point topping the ladder with more than 13,000 people per sq km.

Hong Kong’s density is 6690 people per sq km but this rises to a whopping 57,250 people per sq km in the suburb of Kwun Tong on Kowloon.

Earlier this week, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore claimed the redevelopment of Waterloo, which is being kickstarted by the citing of one of the city’s new Metro rail stations in the neighbourhood, could lead to the area have a density of 70,000 people per sq km. It would be “unprecedented in Australia and rare internationally”, Ms Moore said.

The figures are disputed by UrbanGrowth NSW, the state government’s urban development agency, who say population density will vary throughout the suburb and, far from beating out Hong Kong, will actually be less dense than some areas of Sydney.

“No one really thinks Hong Kong is the right model for Sydney or Melbourne,” Professor Bill Randolph, Director of the City Futures Research Centre at the University of NSW, tells news.com.au.

“Putting up 60-storey residential towers is not a sensible solution and our planning system doesn’t encourage that.”

Artist impression of the ANZ building to be built on the Docklands site in Melbourne.Source:News Limited

Nevertheless, Australia was still getting to grips with how to get the balance right when it came to population density.

“You can do good density and you can do dumb density and it’s the dumb density you need to be careful about,” Prof Randolph says.

“There are very well designed high density suburbs and very poorly designed high density suburbs. The problem is the quality varies tremendously.”

A term he feared was “investment grade product”, essentially apartment complexes built for investors to let out rather than homeowners to live in.

Often cheap to build, the turnover of tenants was high and the investment in their upkeep low, leading to shoddier suburbs.

Prof Randolph cited North Strathfield, in Sydney’s Inner West, as a “problematic development” and Melbourne’s Docklands as “soulless” with many units empty and so simply “vertical safety deposit boxes”. Sydney’s high profile Barangaroo, he said, was a “planning disaster” with politics and personalities leading to a substandard development.

There was too much enthusiasm for tower blocks stuffed full of one and two bedroom units, rather than the “missing middle” of medium density suburbs with smaller developments and townhouses, he said.

A snapshot of the Fishermans Bend redevelopment in Victoria. Picture: The City of Port Phillip/Aspect DigitalSource:Supplied

Building forests of skyscrapers around transport interchanges was also not a one-size-fits all solution.

“A lot of the demand is old people downsizing. Well if I’m an ageing boomer, I don’t want to move to the sixth storey of an apartment block overlooking a railway station,” Prof Randolph said.

More crammed suburbs inevitably meant families would be squeezed out which could lead to a “compartmentalised city” losing the vibrancy mixed suburbs bring. “If you don’t have that buzz, the place falls flat,” he said.

Formal oversight of developments was lacking in many areas. “Government really has to nail apartment quality and set clear guidelines. Rather than the wild west system where developers are allowed to put applications in for height and then break through existing height controls.”

That’s not to say all new developments are lacking. Prof Randolph singles out Victoria Park, a new residential neighbourhood built on old industrial areas between Sydney’s airport and the CBD, as being a step in the right direction.

“You have to have frameworks that encourage good design, good quality, open space and appropriate amenity around buildings.”

Ms Earp said what Hong Kong and Sydney had in common was outdoors, natural space that balanced the crush of the city.

“While it wasn’t something I was used to, I’ve settled into high-rise living very easily. The best piece of advice that I was given about Hong Kong is always look up. There’ll be a bar, a restaurant, an art gallery, something interesting to explore.”

AUSTRALIA’S SARDINE SUBURBS

New South Wales

Sydney is ground zero for crowded suburbs including Elizabeth Bay, Ultimo and Surry Hills. Big new developments at Wentworth Point and Liberty Grove are also in the top 10 but, unusually, are some way from the CBD.

The fastest growing suburbs are on the city fringe including Kellyville, in the northwest, but with a larger area the density is far less.

Big inner city projects such as Green Square and Waterloo, south of the CBD, are predicted to become some of the most densely populated suburbs.

Aerial artist impression of the Green Square site.Source:Supplied

Victoria

Southbank, which clings to the side of the Yarra, is the only Victorian suburb to make it onto the top 20 most dense list but experts are concerned about the number of residential skyscrapers shooting up in the CBD given the state doesn’t have NSW’s rules on housing size and quality, called SEP65.

Carlton and Fitzroy are other busy suburbs while a building boom at Fishermans Bend near the city will bring thousands of more residents.

Skyscrapers around Docklands in Melbourne.Source:News Limited

Queensland

Teneriffe, near Brisbane’s CBD, is Queensland’s densest suburb but is only a paltry 45th on the national ladder. New Farm and Kangaroo Point also make the top 100 while the Gold Coast is the densest non-capital city in Australia.

The only other state with a suburb to make it onto the top 100 list. Highgate, a historic suburb in the inner city, is WA’s most densely popular neighbourhood. But it’s Piara Waters in Perth’s south which is experiencing the fastest rate of growth.